I rolled onto my side, ready to feel my boyfriend buried inside me. At home, right where we were meant to be.
THE GATES OF VALHALLA
Tyler: Sorry, I’m running late.
Tyler: Somebody called the library asking about our next calendar.
Amanda: The Annual Studs of Firefly calendar.
Jason: Are we getting naked again?
Simon: I’m already naked.
Bobby: I’m going to make August so sexy.
Chris: You already do.
Jon: Mabel wants to direct.
Tyler: I’m in.
Amanda: Get ready, boys.
Amanda: This is going to be a production.
“Can I get some peace and quiet?” I shouted.
“Not even a little,” Amanda said. She wore overalls with a tool belt cinched around her waist.Unlike Bobby, she might dress the part, but the pristine tools and lack of wrinkles in her clothes suggested she had yet to get her hands dirty. Without a doubt, she used volunteering as an excuse for the costume.
If I couldn’t beat them, I might as well join. I fired off the email with my latest cover design. It was my second mermaid romance this last week. With the way my work flowed, I’d receive a request for another dozen of them within the month. It might not be my favorite, but it paid the bills.
“Jonny!” Evie shouted from the front of the house. There must be a small army working under this roof. “We need a hand.”
Amanda grabbed me by the hand. “Just suck it up. Remember, you’re half the reason this is happening.”
Pulling me down the hallway, I spotted Bobby and one of his friends lugging a toilet up the stairs. The living room furniture had been covered with plastic while another stranger cut crown molding. It stopped being Mimi’s house and had becomeourhouse. Every decision made it a more polished version of the house we visited in high school. I’d like to think Mimi would be proud of all the work we accomplished. Bywe,I meant Bobby and his team. I picked paint colors.
“What is it now?”
“We need your help,” Evie repeated. When Amanda got me onto the porch, I spotted Laurel and Evie covered in dirt. The sun had slid behind a cloud, giving our yard workers a brief reprieve from a hot summer day. They stoodon the walkway to the street, staring at freshly rooted signposts.
“Hurry up so I can get started.” Marigold’s head popped up from in front of the porch. When I leaned over, I could see her tending to newly planted shrubs. With dirt smudged across her cheeks, I think she might look even more radiant than standing in her flower shop.
“These flowers aren’t going to plant themselves!”
Gladys barked at Jason and Simon as they lugged a wooden headboard from the back of the U-Haul. Even Chris had a can of paint in his hand, touching up the chipped spots along the porch columns. Half the town must be in the yard, while the other half worked at installing a bathroom on the third floor.
I was about to ask what they needed when I saw Harvey and Walter staggering along the sidewalk. “Help them before somebody breaks a hip,” I said. Pushing Amanda down the stairs, we ran over to the men holding the sign. Three feet tall and four feet wide, it weighed more than I assumed.
“Not so easy, is it?” Walter said.
“The whipper snappers thought they’d save the day.” Harvey helped Amanda while Walter pitched in on my end.
“Get it on the hooks!” Instead of helping, Evie and Laurel jumped up and down like excited schoolchildren.
We moved into position, and with one last heave, the grommets slid into place. The sign hung on its own, ready for everybody to see. Evie beckoned me over, also with the patience of a child.
When I joined her, she put her head on my shoulder, admiring our handiwork. We had designed the sign together, and after much arguing, we had finally decided on a font. I couldn’t understand why she didn’t like my idea of Mimi riding a winged horse with a bow and arrow. It’d have been the talk of the town.
